Ubuntu Touch looking smooth in newest video running Mir

posted by Michael H. / Sep 13, 2013, 8:46 PM

Ubuntu Touch is scheduled to be ready for distribution on October 17th. We've shown you some of the polishing work that has been done recently with adding in a tutorial for the swipe gestures and over-the-air system updates. Today, we're seeing a performance video that is looking quite smooth, which is to be expected, but what makes it more interesting is that this is pure Ubuntu running its new Mir display server.

This is important because Mir is a completely new display server that has just been added in with Ubuntu 13.10. It is also important because this is pure Ubuntu here, and it is no longer using an Android surfaceflinger or anything like that. This is the performance that Canonical has been aiming for, and it looks quite good. The video isn't that long, but it gives a good idea of what to expect.

We're just over a month away from Ubuntu Touch being ready for prime time, and finally getting to see what sort of apps have been developed for the platform (which is the real question surrounding it all). After that, it'll be time for Canonical to finish the tablet optimizations and docking capabilities for Ubuntu 14.04.

Posts: 1064; Member since: May 08, 2013

posted on Sep 13, 2013, 8:57 PM 8

Posts: 236; Member since: Feb 16, 2013

This is exactly why i sold my Windows Phone - smooth interface and no apps- not even an app on that WP store that can play MKV videos. That's ridiculous! However, i'm very happy with Android which is the next best in terms of apps and games, relative to the mammoth Apple Store.

posted on Sep 13, 2013, 11:11 PM 2

Posts: 2253; Member since: Feb 14, 2011

Considering that this is Linux-based just as Android is, I would think it would be quite easy to move the applications over. I believe Jolla, another Linux-based OS, was able to do that with their software so it wouldn't surprise me if Ubuntu could do the same thing.

posted on Sep 14, 2013, 1:04 PM 0

Posts: 813; Member since: Jun 10, 2013

posted on Sep 13, 2013, 9:06 PM 1

Posts: 2236; Member since: Jun 14, 2013

It will, but it won't be great. Nexus 4 is the current target, bug there are tons of images out there for non-Nexus devices, so I imagine there will be quite a bit of porting after the image is finalized.

posted on Sep 13, 2013, 10:25 PM 1

Posts: 1612; Member since: Jan 16, 2012

"This is important because Mir is a completely new display server that has just been added in with Ubuntu 13.10."
And only the losers at Ubuntu are using Mir. The rest of the world is going to use wayland.
Ubuntu nowadays is more interested in NIH syndrome than actually making a good Linux distro. Screw them and go with something else better, like Sailfish or Mozilla's OS.

Posts: 2236; Member since: Jun 14, 2013

posted on Sep 13, 2013, 10:26 PM 0

Posts: 77; Member since: Jun 10, 2010

Mozilla's OS is complete crap! HTML5 is a very nice technology, but designing an OS that only allows apps to be in HTML5 is ridiculous! Apparently apps on Firefox OS are able to change your phone, and that is a HUGE security risk. And not to mention how goddamn ugly it is.
I haven't used Ubuntu 13.04 for very long, but I personally really enjoy it. It's got everything that I need (g++ compiler, gedit, terminal), and it all looks gorgeous. I feel like the only reason you're bashing Ubuntu is because you prefer another distro or you're just trying to halt progress in tech. Canonical is the only company that's trying to build a completely convergent OS, and I find that very cool. Especially since a single app can be developed with different views for different devices. As a developer, that is a dream come true.

posted on Sep 14, 2013, 6:05 AM 0

Posts: 269; Member since: Sep 09, 2013

iOS 7 (Gold master) is very elegant and fluid on my iPhone 5. If you bothered to try it out, you would see that iOS 7 looks much better than android. I have tried both. I have had android 4.3 run on my galaxy s3. The dialer looks pathetic! The app drawer looks worse and the notification bar looks crappy. Don't forget that most of the apps for android have still not embraced the holo UI. So you get a mixture of jelly bean and gingerbread which sucks! I like android but The UI on iOS is more fluid, elegant and pleasant to use.

posted on Sep 14, 2013, 8:02 AM 1

Posts: 3487; Member since: Oct 26, 2012

First of all, how would you know I haven't tried iOS 7 ? Keep your assumptions to yourself. I currently own a iPad 3.
I don't know how would you find android's dialpad so annoying as its just clean and plain numbers in a black background. Infact, it should look great in Amoled panel of your gs3 as it has excellent blacks. Whereas, iOS 7's dialpad looks more like drawn by a kid with circles and the rest of the stuff like call button is just a blatant copy of Windows phone.
The app drawer is much more cleaner and recognizable as apps are not in some BS patented 'square with curved edges' box. Also, the there is huge space between each apps and has less apps on each screen than ios7.
Can you specifically tell me which apps are updated to match ios7's gradient UI ?

posted on Sep 14, 2013, 10:40 AM 0

Posts: 269; Member since: Sep 09, 2013

It's not a gradient UI! It's a modern simplistic UI. And there are many updated and ready for iOS 7. See 9 to 5 Macs article (a look at what high profile apps will look like on iOS 7) . I am running iOS 7 gold master edition and on both my iPhone 5 and iPad 3. iOS 7 does not look kiddish at all (I have to admit that apples circles dynamic wallaper does make it look kiddish). My GS3s display has let me down. It looks pixelated when I look at the screen closely (while lying down). It's a pentile display after all. If you used iOS 7 you would know how elegant it is. I feel that 90% of the new stuff is apples own and 10% is copied (like multitasking). But the haters here are crazy so they call it a 100% copy.

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